1) Summary of Procedure: The teacher presents students with a series of statements on the board pertaining loosely to the topic being discussed but linking to absurd thoughts. Questions are posed one at a time and students have two minutes to jot down their thoughts on the subject. Before the next question is put up, the teacher asks students to quickly comment on whether they agree or disagree with the statement and why. For example: “If friction vanished, we would immediately starve to death” (Peel Publications, 2009)
2) Strengths and weaknesses of Procedure:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Has students thinking outside the box about subjects they may not have linked to the topic at hand
May be difficult for students to get in depth responses on the topics given
Gets students thinking about how important physics is in the world around them
Students with certain disabilities may find it difficult to understand the thought process
Does not take a lot of time and keeps students engaged in the learning process
May be difficult for the teacher to compile a list
(Peel Publications, 2009)
3) Explanation why this is beneficial to student learning: This procedure encourages students to link thoughts about everyday life to every aspect of knowledge taught in the physics classroom. It makes them think about how connected the world is and how one action can make a big impact. This may encourage students to use divergent thinking to question other classes as well.
4) 3 examples of the procedure: a. SPH4U (Grade 12 University Physics). “If a light source only produced two rays of light, all the world’s cows would die off.”
b. SPH3U (Grade 11 University Physics). “Wild Carnival rides depend on Newton’s First Law.” (Peel Publications, 2009)
c. SPH4C (Grade 12 College Physics). “If trees and oceans didn’t exist, you wouldn’t know who David Suzuki is.”
5) Curricular expectation for each example: a. SPH4U, E1.2 assess the impact on society and the environment of technologies that use the wave nature of light
b. SPH3U, C3.3 state Newton’s laws, and apply them, in qualitative terms, to explain the effect of forces acting on objects
c. SPH4C, E1.1 analyse an energy-transformation technology, and evaluate its impact on society and the environment (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2008)
6) How each example is related to student’s lives: a. Students think about how they interpret light and how ray diagrams are not like light in the real world but only a representation of images. Students may think about how light impacts things like growing plants in real life.
b. Students relate to going on a roller coaster and think about the forces at work that allow that roller coaster to run.
c. Students see David Suzuki in the media constantly and can relate daily life to what he is trying to promote within the world. Students may choose to get involved with some of his initiatives.
Written by Amy Kelland
Works Cited
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2008). The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11 and 12 Science. Queen's Printer for Ontario.
1) Summary of Procedure:
The teacher presents students with a series of statements on the board pertaining loosely to the topic being discussed but linking to absurd thoughts. Questions are posed one at a time and students have two minutes to jot down their thoughts on the subject. Before the next question is put up, the teacher asks students to quickly comment on whether they agree or disagree with the statement and why. For example: “If friction vanished, we would immediately starve to death” (Peel Publications, 2009)
2) Strengths and weaknesses of Procedure:
3) Explanation why this is beneficial to student learning:
This procedure encourages students to link thoughts about everyday life to every aspect of knowledge taught in the physics classroom. It makes them think about how connected the world is and how one action can make a big impact. This may encourage students to use divergent thinking to question other classes as well.
4) 3 examples of the procedure:
a. SPH4U (Grade 12 University Physics). “If a light source only produced two rays of light, all the world’s cows would die off.”
b. SPH3U (Grade 11 University Physics). “Wild Carnival rides depend on Newton’s First Law.” (Peel Publications, 2009)
c. SPH4C (Grade 12 College Physics). “If trees and oceans didn’t exist, you wouldn’t know who David Suzuki is.”
5) Curricular expectation for each example:
a. SPH4U, E1.2 assess the impact on society and the environment of technologies that use the wave nature of light
b. SPH3U, C3.3 state Newton’s laws, and apply them, in qualitative terms, to explain the effect of forces acting on objects
c. SPH4C, E1.1 analyse an energy-transformation technology, and evaluate its impact on society and the environment (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2008)
6) How each example is related to student’s lives:
a. Students think about how they interpret light and how ray diagrams are not like light in the real world but only a representation of images. Students may think about how light impacts things like growing plants in real life.
b. Students relate to going on a roller coaster and think about the forces at work that allow that roller coaster to run.
c. Students see David Suzuki in the media constantly and can relate daily life to what he is trying to promote within the world. Students may choose to get involved with some of his initiatives.
Written by Amy Kelland
Works Cited
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2008). The Ontario Curriculum Grades 11 and 12 Science. Queen's Printer for Ontario.
Peel Publications. (2009). PEEL in Practice. Retrieved December 2010, from PEEL Project for Enhancing Effective Learning: http://peelweb.org/index.cfm?resource=pip